The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice

Psalm 97-98 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

97 The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice;
Let the many islands be glad.
² Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
³ Fire goes before Him
And burns up His adversaries round about.
⁴ His lightnings lit up the world;
The earth saw and trembled.
⁵ The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
⁶ The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples have seen His glory.

⁷ Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images,
Who boast themselves of idols;
Worship Him, all you gods.
⁸ Zion heard this and was glad,
And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced
Because of Your judgments, O Lord.
⁹ For You are the Lord Most High over all the earth;
You are exalted far above all gods.

¹⁰ Hate evil, you who love the Lord,
Who preserves the souls of His godly ones;
He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
¹¹ Light is sown like seed for the righteous
And gladness for the upright in heart.
¹² Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones,
And give thanks to His holy name.

98 O sing to the Lord a new song,
For He has done wonderful things,
His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
² The Lord has made known His salvation;
He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.
³ He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

⁴ Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.
⁵ Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
With the lyre and the sound of melody.
⁶ With trumpets and the sound of the horn
Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord.

⁷ Let the sea roar and all it contains,
The world and those who dwell in it.
⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy
⁹ Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth;
He will judge the world with righteousness
And the peoples with equity.

Matthew 24:4-14 says:   “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

As we look around we can certainly see and hear much of what is described in this text. Millions of people around the world are currently affected by natural disasters. The threat or rumor of war all around the globe is a constant theme in the news. Racial, ethnic and tribal conflicts, nation rising against nation, are prevalent throughout the world, in our cities and neighborhoods. Many fear that the end soon will come. Jesus says though that we should not be frightened. As  believers, we should take confidence in what Daniel 2:20-21 says:  “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings.  Whatever happens on earth there are a few things we can be sure of. It is not and will not be the end of time. Time has no beginning or no end. We measure time in days, months, years, centuries and so on, but time itself exists outside of our ability to measure it. It is eternal. Also whatever happens, it will not be the end of God. Revelation 1:8 says:  “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”  Before man, God was. After whatever happens in this world, He will still be the Almighty God. The truth is, whether there are conflicts, tribulation, wars and natural disasters or not, each person individually will one day come to the end of their life. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 says:  There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven— A time to give birth and a time to die.   Jesus promise to us is that if we endure to the end, we will be saved. In John 3:16 Jesus says: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”    So for those who endure, believing in Christ, whatever happens it will not be the end. We too will have eternity with God.

We then should neither fear nor put our trust in world rulers. There have been many evil rulers and some good ones throughout history. God though is the one who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings.  In today’s Psalm the psalmist says:    The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; Let the many islands be glad.    Rather than fear, we should rejoice and be glad that it is God who reigns.    Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne… The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples have seen His glory.   The psalmist exhorts us saying:   Hate evil, you who love the Lord, Who preserves the souls of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is sown like seed for the righteous And gladness for the upright in heart. Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones, And give thanks to His holy name.

May Psalm 98 be our declaration and prayer:   O sing to the Lord a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him. The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, With the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord. Let the sea roar and all it contains, The world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness And the peoples with equity.  Amen.   He who endures to the end will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations.  “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”   Amen.